126 



PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF PRUNING 



be covered with the annual rings of the trunk. Gen- 

 erally such limbs are only one year younger than the 

 trunk at the point where they are produced, but some- 

 times a latent bud may develop several years later than 

 the limb produced in normal time. In such cases the 

 initial point of the limb will not be from the central por- 

 tion of the trunk, but from one of the annual rings more 

 or less distant from the center of the tree trunk. When- 

 ever logs are cut into boards the positions of the limbs 

 on the trunks are shown by the knots (Figs. 80, 81, 82). 

 The history of the limbs is in- 

 dicated by the condition of the 

 knots. When the knots form a close 

 union with the trunk the limb dur- 

 ing the life of the tree was healthy 

 at least at the point where cut 

 (Fig. 82). When the knot is sur- 

 rounded by a black ring, and es- 

 pecially where it is loose and can 

 be knocked out, it shows that the 

 limb was dead at the point where 

 the board was cut from the trunk. 

 Farther from the center of the trunk 

 there may be only a hole where the 



F,C. 8 5-FL,CKER'S NEST 1 '" lh haS r tted back itltO 

 A cut was wrongly made (Fig. o2). 

 Decay spread 



at the elbow. 



down the heart wood. An- 

 other stub just below the 

 center also decayed and a 

 flicker dug out a nest. This 

 is a common thing in badly 

 pruned orchards. 



116. Natural and artificial wounds 

 contrasted. From what has been 

 said in the previous paragraphs it 

 may be rightly concluded that 

 man may take advantage of and improve upon na- 

 ture's methods, especially in the making of wounds. 

 for if he will make wounds in such a way as to favor 

 healing rather than decay, he will increase the longevity 

 and the usefulness of the tree he so prunes. When 



